


Oblivious

by soul_of_blaze



Series: Bagginshield Month [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Awkward Thorin, Dwarf Culture & Customs, M/M, Miscommunication, also sort of, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul_of_blaze/pseuds/soul_of_blaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>anonymous: can you write something cute with an awkward thorin trying to seduce bilbo with his dwarfly charm, but bilbo not getting it at all?(he can get it in the end, but whatever. if you write this, you can bend this prompt to your will however you like)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oblivious

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this took forever to write only because it wasn't coming out the way i wanted it to and im still not sure its exactly the prompt but  
> here it is anyway, this is the final version and i like it

The stone, rock, or whatever it is (if you asked Bilbo, really, it was just a stone, although it was quite pretty and sparkled in the sun), dropped into his hand and the hobbit gave the dwarf in front of him a confusing look. Thorin stood there, not saying anything but looking pointedly at Bilbo as though he had done something more than put a stone in his hand.

Had he? Bilbo squinted, looked back down at the sparkling stone and then back up at the dwarf.

“Thank you?” He tried, wincing slightly as he wasn’t quite sure if he should be thanking Thorin. But that seemed to be the right thing to do as then the dwarf practically ran away, after a stiff nod. With a sigh, the hobbit tucked the stone away. Odd as it was, it was still a gift… of sorts and since he had somehow gained friendship with Thorin at last, he wasn’t going to muck it up.

Apparently all you needed to do to earn friendship with dwarves was to rescue them from death and prove that you weren’t useless. It certainly would’ve been a more bearable journey if he’d known that earlier. Now, though, that was all behind them and what had to worry about next was the rest of the journey to Erebor.

Oh, and Smaug as well, but really, Thorin acting odd was not something he needed.

Bilbo paused, suddenly thinking about the past few days. It hadn’t been just Thorin acting off around him. In fact, the entire Company had been treating him differently since they’d escaped from the orcs and wargs. Personally, he had hoped they’d at least start treating him with more trust now that he had proved he wasn’t leaving them (and especially after saving Thorn’s life!) but many of them hadn’t said more than a word to him since they’d arrived in Beorn’s Halls. If he were to make assumptions, it seemed quite a lot like they were avoiding him.

But there wasn’t much he could do about it, and he decided that this must just be an oddity of dwarrows and nothing more than that.

That night, Bilbo found himself squeezed between Fili and Kili which he did no mind too much because they reminded him of his younger cousins and this meant that he wasn’t being as ignored as he thought. Across the fire, Thorin stared at them. A bit unsettling, but he tore his eyes away from the face of the dwarf to listen to the ramblings of his nephews.

“… and you’ll like it, the stories Thorin and mother have told us!” Kili grinned before his mouth fell slightly, and on his other side, Fili peered around his shoulder. “What’s that you have there?”

“Hm?” Bilbo blinked, then glanced down at his hands. He hadn’t noticed, but in the time the two had been talking, he’d taken out the stone that Thorin had given him. His fingers curled around the stone, feeling a bit protective about it all of the sudden. Beside him, Kili said his name. Fili repeated it when he didn’t respond within a few minutes. “Ah, sorry. Thorin gave it to me earlier… I think it’s rather nice of him, don’t you?”

Neither of them said anything right away. Bilbo opened his mouth to question them but Fili immediately began talking, as if he’d spaced out.

“It is! That’s great, Bilbo,” the dwarf grinned at him and Bilbo relaxed his tensed shoulders.

Over his head, the two shared a mischievous glance that he missed as he looked back down at the stone with a more certain fondness. If those two thought it was a kind gesture as well, then it must have truly been one. Across the fire, Thorin stared harder at them.

Something seemed to be bothering him, and Bilbo wanted to ask him what was wrong, but squeezed between the two youngest dwarves he couldn’t do much of anything.

And it wasn’t until Laketown that anything else happened. (That wasn’t exactly true, as throughout the rest of the quest, Thorin had been strangely protective of Bilbo, defending him at every turn. And that was nice but at the same time it made him feel a bit odd.)

Upon arrival in Laketown, after a meeting that a mildly sick Bilbo didn’t enjoy, the Master had given them a house to stay in before they left for Erebor. Despite the fact that it was large enough for them to be separated, but it seemed that for the most part, the dwarves preferred to stick together. On one of the nights, just after Bilbo had recovered from his cold, they were all crowded together and laughing.

Thorin glanced over at him, with a frown. Blinking, Bilbo raised a brow in question to him.

“Your hair,” the dwarf indicated after a moment, and there seemed an air of nervousness about this. Immediately, Bilbo put his hands to his hair in confusion but Thorin shook his head, lowering his voice. “If you would let me, I would like to braid it.”

“Oh, but, I don’t know if I have enough hair for that…”

In truth, though, in the last few months, his hair had grown quite a length from its usual. Had he still been in the Shire, it would have been regularly trimmed. But no, it had been left to grow and now he realized, he probably looked a bit silly.

And Thorin was offering to braid it, if it could be braided, which would make him like less silly, true, and all the dwarves had their hair braided as well. It certainly couldn’t hurt!

Thorin stared at him, apprehension growing behind his eyes. Straightening up, Bilbo gave a nod to affirm that he was quite alright with the request. Then, for fear that he might need to vocalize that as well, the hobbit quickly added, “I mean, yes! I would like that.”

If it were actually possible, and Bilbo was not actually sure if it were, Thorin seemed to brighten before he stood up slowly. The other dwarves took no notice of their leader and burglar leaving, that or they did just not care.

The room that had been given to Thorin had to be the grandest, or Bilbo guessed so, for he had only seen the smaller room the Men had given him and none of the others. But Thorin’s room was large and even the bed looked grand (well, as grand a poor town of men could manage). Thorin appeared to be retrieving something so Bilbo sat down on the edge of the bed.

“What are those?” He peered curiously at the carved metal in Thorin’s hand, but all he had was a glimpse as the dwarf disappeared behind him. The bed sunk just behind him, Thorin settling directly behind his back.

“They are clasps for the braid. Look, like this,” Thorin directed Bilbo to glance over his shoulder. When he did, Bilbo noted that the dwarf had held up one of his braids, and it was true, there was a metal clasp holding it from unraveling. He said nothing more than that and the hobbit felt slightly unsettled about it. Still, the gesture was kind and he would not feel as odd amongst the company now.

It seemed quite a long time, with Thorin carefully braiding the hair just behind Bilbo’s ear. As it turned out, there was just enough for a small braid. The hobbit hadn’t thought it, but in truth, the whole process was rather soothing. Bilbo thought it must have been some time since anyone touched his hair and the dwarf took his time to make the braid, occasionally brushing his hand through the rest of Bilbo’s curls. Distinctly, he heard the click of something metal and then a cool feeling against the side of head, under his ear but Thorin’s hands didn’t release him.

He startled slightly when the dwarf leaned forward against his back, and settled his face in the hobbit’s curls. Bilbo didn’t know quite how to handle this sudden movement, but he relaxed his shoulders when Thorin did nothing else but that.

“Master Baggins,” the dwarf said into his hair and for whatever reason, Bilbo found himself out of breath for a moment.

“Bilbo.”

“Beg your pardon?” He could hear the surprise in the dwarf’s voice and didn’t need to see his face to know that.

“Well, er, I just meant to say, you can call me Bilbo. Most of the company does but you and I thought because, well,” Bilbo cleared his throat. He didn’t want to assume their friendship out loud but it had become annoying that the leader of their company still would not call him by his name. “You know.”

“Ah, indeed,” Thorin’s voice had quieted, and his hands shifted to grip Bilbo’s shoulders slowly. “You are sure?”

“I should think so, I did just say that, Thorin,” Bilbo furrowed his brows even though his friend could not see that. “And-”

Bilbo yelped as he was very suddenly pulled down and what felt like being shoved unceremoniously on the bed. He closed his eyes, wondering if he had accidentally offended the dwarf. Surely, he hadn’t? He’d been using Thorin’s name for a while and no protest had come then but now here he was, being shoved over!

When he tried to sit up, eyes still closed as he planned to march out of the room without looking at his friend for his own sake, Bilbo’s forehead connected with Thorin’s quickly and hard, sending him back to sprawling. With that, he opened his eyes and frowned at the dwarf that had straddled him.

“Bilbo,” he said, and his face had taken on a red coloring, a slight grimace on his lips.

“I don’t know what this is a-about,” Bilbo said, gathering up all his courage. “But I do not think I appreciate being shoved around, Thorin, and you should know not to--!”

His words were muffled by being awkwardly kissed by Thorin, who sort of smashed their mouths together in what was probably a purposeful kiss were it not for the fact that Bilbo had no idea where it was coming from.

“What,” Bilbo managed when the dwarf had pulled away.

“What do you mean what?” Thorin said uncertainly, frowning down at Bilbo now. Face still red, all Bilbo could tell that Thorin now looked nearly as confused as he felt. “I thought you should at least know what a kiss is, Bilbo.”

“Yes, of course I do, but I don’t understand why you just did that!”

Thorin sat back, frowning heavier and placing a hand over his mouth. Beneath him, the hobbit squirmed uncomfortably. He tried to think back on the past few days. Besides Thorin being overprotective of him, nothing had been obvious to him that the dwarf had feelings for him and Bilbo was certain he had not invited the dwarf in any way!

“Obviously,” Thorin said after a moment. “I have been attempting to seduce you, Bilbo.”

Bilbo choked, eyes widening in surprise.

“That, hm, certainly was not something I knew then, er,” he didn’t particularly want to look at Thorin in that moment.

“Have I not been forth right with you?” Thorin sounded less confused and more desperate now, which was just causing Bilbo more confusion. He wanted to say that _no, Thorin, you apparently were not because I have no idea where this is coming from_ but his words were not working at the moment. “You accepted show of my wealth, although I cannot give you the truth of it until we have taken back Erebor. I have seen you making good friends with my nephews! I have shown you that I can take care of you. And you allowed me to braid your hair, along with directly asking me to use your name. I do not think I could have been more outright with you. Half of the company was embarrassed by it.”

The hobbit attempted to process this but all he could do was cough after a moment.

“I, I’m afraid I did not know that was what you were doing, Thorin,” Bilbo finally looked back at the dwarf, to find his face redder. “To be honest, I thought we were becoming friends! After the dealing with the orcs and wargs, I had thought you had accepted me as a friend and were just showing me that… Oh dear.”

Now, Bilbo hid his reddening face behind his hands. Seduction to dwarves certainly was different than to hobbits. Certainly, most of it happened in the bedroom and not out of it, but apparently with dwarves it was more extensive.

“My apologies,” the dwarf’s voice ripped him from his embarrassment. “Master Baggins, it appears that we have had a rift in communication. If you would give me leave, we can pretend this never-”

“Bilbo.”

“Bilbo,” Thorin sighed, keeping his eyes above the hobbit’s head. “As I was saying, we can pretend this never happened and I will simply explain everything to the Company.”

As Thorin started to stand, Bilbo let out a frustrated noise. Dwarves were hard to deal with and he couldn’t find a better way to react than that. Reaching out, he used all of his strength to stop Thorin by gripping his wrist. He probably wasn’t strong enough to stop him, but Thorin did stop, still kneeling on the bed.

“Wait, look, Thorin,” Bilbo breathed in, mustering courage yet again. “You are right, there was some miscommunication between us, but I do not… I never said I was adverse to more than what I thought our relationship was.”

The surprise and general relief in the dwarf’s eyes were certainly enough to give Bilbo more courage, but he still let out a yelp as he was tackled back into the bed.


End file.
